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A Halloween Costume from 1922


"Spanish Lady" costume worn for Halloween by Virginia Shaver in 1922
For Halloween in 1922 14-year-old Virginia L. Shaver of La Crosse, Wisconsin, decided to dress up as a "Spanish Lady." To do this she took a printed tan silk dress her mother Gertrude Shaver had made in 1917 and modified it for her needs. First Virginia added black lace to the skirt, neckline and sleeves, as well as a triangular black lace insert into the neckline; she then tied a green silk sash artistically around her waist. Finally Virginia put a large celluloid tortoiseshell comb in her hair and draped it with a black lace shawl reinvented as a mantilla. This Spanish Lady Halloween Costume is one of many objects in our Museum's collections.

:: Posted October 27, 2005
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